Fame Isn't Everything [Elvis]

Chapter 2 - The Thorny Bush on the Side of the Shed

I woke up the next morning, feeling like nothing had changed. Nothing felt different. Did I jut dream up that girl in black and dreamt that she put a spell on me? The thought made me snicker. Spells? Enchantments? Those were from fairytales. As in, not real. I had to nip this in the bud, and speaking of bud, that flower that she mentioned that was in the gardens... I had to see if it existed. That would prove this, wouldn't it?

Before anyone was up, aside from Gertrude, I left the house that went into the backyard to the garden where Momma would spend some time tending the roses. It was the only part of the garden that she didn't want the groundskeeper to touch. Now, they tended to it since she wasn't around. No one else had a green thumb aside from the groundskeeper.

There were pink, yellow and red roses. Nothing out of the ordinary. I smirked. Yeah, it was all a dream.

"I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore."

I started to head back, and the moment I turned, my heart jumped to find Hugh, the groundkeeper. He was giving me a great big smile. He was a handsome man in his forties, and he had brown hair and blue eyes. He also was lean like me.

"Good mornin', Elvis!" he greeted me. "Didn't expect to see ya walkin' about the garden this mornin'."

He was from the South like me, so he had the same drawl. "Good mornin', Hugh. And, yeah, I just wanted some fresh air."

"I see. I want to say first how grateful I am that you allowed my daughter Sam to work here for a little while to save up some cash. It was mighty nice of ya."

She could pick any job, yet she chose here. "It wasn't a problem. She here with ya?"

"She'll be here later this morning. And I apologize ahead of time for any attitude. She's not much of a fan of yours."

Now I knew that Hugh probably convinced his daughter to work here. As in, this wasn't her choice. "Well, that means she won't be easily distracted."

And she was a great candidate for someone to see me for me and not my fame. That is, if all that stuff with Ignis was real, which I believed it wasn't.

"Yes, indeed," said Hugh. "Well, better get a start on the day. I have to tackle the thorn bush behind the shed."

This surprised me. Nothin' like that was supposed to be there. No thorns, just beauty on Graceland. "There's a thorn bush behind the shed?"

"Yeah. I found it last night before I left and figured I'd get rid of it this morning. It's like it just appeared there out of thin air."

Or out of magic. "Could you show me? You keep the grounds perfect, so I don't know how thorns could get here."

"Sure thing."

I followed him to behind the tool shed that was a short walk away, and we came behind it to find a prickly bush, like all of it was deadly thorns. My mouth dropped open. "What in the blazes?"

"I know. A bit spooky since it just appeared there, and the plant is black. But there's a bright pink flower there. It's not a rose, but it's a pretty flower. I might pluck it and give it to my wife. That is, if you say it's alright."

He moved some thorns with his gloved hands, and I saw a bright pink flower that wasn't a rose, but a flower with many, many petals on it. Maybe a hundred of them. I was a bit entranced by this flower, and it seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.

"Ain't it somethin'?" asked Hugh. "She's a beauty. I've never seen a more enchanting plant."

That made my heart jump, and I looked over at him with wide blue eyes. "Wait, whadya say?"